Me and my girls

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Top 5 Must-Haves for Baby (and Top 5 Useless Products)

I decided to compose my top 5 Must-Haves for expectant parents. I bought a lot of stuff when I was expecting my eldest and while some were lifesavers, some things were hardly used.

Top 5 Must-Haves:

1. Sling/Baby Bjorn - The baby bjorn saved me with both girls (especially my eldest). Ainsley would only sleep during the day in the baby bjorn for the first few weeks and when I had Juliet, I needed my hands free. My advice would be to wait until your baby is born and then pick out which carrier your baby prefers. I bought a sling for Juliet and she hated it so I sold it.

2. Breastfeeding pillow - if you are going to breastfeed, a good pillow is essential for saving your back. I started with a jolly jumper pillow which was too soft. My Brest Friend was fantastic. It gave me great support and was very firm.

3. Baby's First Journal - now I know this is my product but a journal to log your newborn's feeds, sleeps and diapers is essential for the first few months. I would have been lost without this. It definitely, helped me get to know my daughters' needs quickly.

4. A good diaper cream - even for kids with the best skin, a diaper rash is sure to appear at some point. The best cream I found is A&D Cream which is not sold in Canada. I actually make the trip to the US periodically and buy tons as I have found nothing else that works quite as effectively.

5. Large Receiving blankets - Swaddling your child in small receiving blankets is impossible. I actually made my own 1 meter by 1meter and it was the perfect size. This didn't cost much. I just went to a fabric store. You can buy larger swaddling blankets in stores but you have to look out for them.

Now for the Top 5 Biggest Wastes of money (for me):

1. The Swing - borrow one if you want to try it, neither of my girls liked it

2. Bumbo Chair - neither daughter like it - another one to borrow

3. Cradle - We bought a pack n'play which is very useful so we could have just used this instead of the cradle

4. Burp clothes - my girls did not spit up - they threw up - A folded up receiving blanket will do just as well and even better for the big spit ups

5. Bottling supplies - we bought all the bottle paraphenalia and had at least a dozen bottles, but them my eldest didn't take the bottle - my advice is to buy a few bottles and then if you child will take the bottle then invest in more